First job was to start Degsy. He has not been started for a week or more and we have had some cold weather. No surprise that he battery did not have enough oomph to get Degsy going. Luckily Degsy has as starting handle. A couple of swings and Degsy burbled into life. With Degsy ticking over enough to turn out the charging lamp I set about removing the brush guards covering the lamps and then the indicator lens. I figured there might be a wiring issue so I took off the inner plate that hides and protects the wiring on the back of the light cluster. Plenty of cobwebs behind the plate which means at least it dry in there. I got the indicator bulb out. The filament looked intact. I selected the indicators, I could hear the front indicator double timing. I put the black probe of the electrical tester on the earth tag and the red probe on the centre of the light fitting. The needle of the meter started moving in time to the indicator beat. So the issue was in the fitting or the bulb. The bulb looked fine so had a good look at the fitting. The copper tag looked a bit green and corroded so I used a scrape of emery paper to clean it up. I put the bulb back in.....nothing. I had a spare bulb (12v x 21watt), as you do, popped it in and it immediately it started being an indicator. So all that was required was to clean off the green mold from the leans and refit it. Refit the brush guard and inner panel. Job done. Just for fun I dismantled the off side indicator and cleaned up the contacts as I had done on the the near side. It was not as corroded as the near side lamp but at least it is clean now.I checked all the lights, now all the indicators were working. I thought the number plate lamp seemed a bit dull. I unscrewed the lamp cover only to find it was so filthy that it was a wonder any light got though the lens. I went inside and washed the lens with detergent and a scrubbing brush. It came up like new. I thought I would change the bulbs whilst I was there. However I did not have any spare bulbs of that type. I reassembled the lamp. Even in the daylight there is a milky glow over the number plate.
The exhaust is blowing like mad. The rear joint of the intermediate section is the culprit. I examined exhaust pipe of the intermediate section to find it was rotten. I guess it has been on Degsy since day one, that is thirty odd years. I was going to reseal the offending joint. I thought I would just check how much a new mid section would cost. I thought it would not be much. £9 plus VAT. For once that is less than I thought. No sense in not replacing the old section with a new one. Another few quid for a a new set of nuts and bolts and its done for just over £15. I collected it whilst I was out meeting one of my customers. I will have the mechanics fit it when they do the MOT. A bit of a tidy up and wipe down of the interior and we are ready to go. Now where's the number for MOT test station? 